After a COVID-19-related postponement of the 2021 NASCAR Hall of Fame induction, originally scheduled for Feb. 5 of last year, the 2021 class of inductees, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Red Farmer and Mike Stefanik finally were officially inducted into the Hall during a ceremony Friday night at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte, N.C.
The 2021 Hall of Fame class was the first of a new format, consisting of only three members per year [down from the previous five] — two from a modern-day ballot and another from a pioneer ballot. Earnhardt, who led the way in voting with 76 percent of the deciding committee voting for him, and the late Stefanik were selected from the modern category, and Farmer was selected from the pioneer list of nominees.
Also worth noting, the 2021 class is the first NASCAR Hall of Fame class of inductees void of a championship in NASCAR’s premier series. Earnhardt headlined the latest class as the only driver of the three with a significant amount of experience in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“To join Dad in the Hall of Fame is probably as good as it’s going to get,” Earnhardt said. His father, the late seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. was part of the inaugural class of NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees in 2010.
After winning back-to-back championships in the NASCAR Xfinity [then-Busch] Series in his only two full-time seasons in the series, 1998 and 1999, Earnhardt went full-time Cup Series raving in 2000, driving, first for the now-defunct Dale Earnhardt Inc. and, then, Hendrick Motorsports, before retiring from full-time competition at the end of the 2017 season.
Earnhardt’s Cup Series stats include 26 race wins, including Daytona 500 victories in 2004 and 2014, one each with DEI and HMS. He also was voted Cup Series Most Popular Driver a record 15-consecutive seasons between 2003 and 2017. The only driver with more total Cup Most Popular Driver awards is 2015 Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott with 16.
Earnhardt remains active in NASCAR as a broadcaster for NBC Sports and owner of JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. He has three championships and 47 race wins as an Xfinity team owner and continues to contest one Xfinity Series race as a driver each season.
“I was a mechanic at a dealership,” Earnhardt said of his time working in the service department of Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet, owned by his father. “That was my destiny, or so I thought. I changed the oil in thousands of cars.”
Stefanik, while not a star on NASCAR’s biggest stage, was a multi-time champion. His nine championships, combined, on the Whelen Modified Tour and in the NASCAR East Series matches the title tally of Hall of Fame member and modified racing legend Richie Evans.
While two of Stefanik’s title came in the East Series, a record seven were scored on the Whelen Modited Tour. He also holds records on that tour for most wins [74], poles, too-fives and too-10 race finishes.
Stefanik, who died as a result of injuries sustained in a plane crash in September 2019, was represented by widow Julie Stefanik at Friday night’s ceremony.
“This is a huge honor, and I know Michael would have been very humbled,” Julie Stefanik said.
At the end of her speech, Julie Stefanik honored her husband’s memory with a sip of his favorite drink.
“He was more than just a racer to us,” Julie Stefanik said. “He was a beloved husband, father, brother and friend. And in his honor, I’ll have a Jack and Diet [Coke].”
Farmer, a short-track racing legend continues to race on the short tracks of Alabama at the age of 89. His wins total across all racing series is unknown but assumed to exceed 700.
“It’s something that gets in your blood, and you can’t get it out,” Farmer said.
Farmer raced sparingly in NASCAR’s top series, contesting only 36 races between 1953 and 1975, but his stats include a NASCAR modified championship in 1956 and three consecutive titles between 1969 and 1971 in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series, the forerunner of the Xfinity Series.
Farmer had more opportunities to race in NASCAR’s premier series with teams he considered to be subpar, but he opted, istead, to contend for wins in better equipment in other series.
“I was not going to be an also-ran,” Farmer said.
Farmer may have been born in Nashville, Tenn., and began his racing career in Florida, but after moving to Hueytown, Ala., he became an original member of the famed Alabama Gang that also included NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Davey Allison, among others.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame is the 10th Hall of Fame to induct Farmer into its membership.
“If these Hall of Fames were a Christmas tree with all the ornaments around it, this NASCAR award would be the gold star on top of that Christmas tree,” Farmer said.
Honors bestowed during Friday night’s ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame included the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR to the late Ralph Seagraves. As an executive with R.J. Reynolds, Seagraves was instrumental in developing the Winston title sponsorship of the Cup Series in the early 1970s and of NASCAR’s Weekly Racing Series at local short tracks across the US.
Winston became the first title sponsor of NASCAR’s top series in 1971 and maintained that sponsorship through the 2003 race season.
The late Bob Jenkins, who died at the age of 73 after battling brain cancer in 2021, was recognized with the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. He was a veteran of race broadcasting on radio and television, working for such networks as ABC/ESPN and the NBC Sports Network.
“Bob Jenkins lent his iconic voice to so many memorable NASCAR moments, telling the story of our sport to millions of fans for years,” a statement released by NASCAR upon Jenkins’ death read. “Though known for his immense talent as a broadcaster, Bob’s passion for motorsports truly defined what it meant to be a racer.”
Jenkins was at ESPN when the network began in 1979. He was part of the broadcast team for over 400 NASCAR races and co-hosted the show, “ESPN SpeedWeek,” for 15 years.
“The voice of Bob Jenkins is synonymous with the many great NASCAR moments he called over two decades,” NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France said. “The broadcast team of Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons is one of the most memorable in NASCAR history; it is fitting to see Bob honored in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”
